BILL'S Rod & Custom - Hot Rods - Classic Cars
- Tops Chopped - Ford Chassis - Metal Work - Parts - Custom Rods -
523 W. Main St., Springfield, Ohio 45504
(937) 322-5134

BILL'S ROD & CUSTOM is located in Springfield, Ohio. If you are ever in the area please call us and we'll try to get the place clean enough for visitors. If you want a real Hot Rod experience come see us - you'll think you've died and gone to heaven. A word of warning - if you want a pretty little showroom with fancy carpet - go to a Dentist - this place is for hot rodder's only!

Call us (937) 322-5134!

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The following articles were written over twenty years ago, though much has changed in these times our passion for rods remains the same. Old rodders never die - they just downshift.

From Hot Rod Magazine, Nov. 1983, Vol 36 No. 8, Petersen Publishing Co.

FALL GUYS

Bill "Willie" Metz, the owner and operator of Bill's Rod & Custom Shop in Springfield, Ohio, is one of those laid back lads from the Midwest who claims he's never met a Deuce he didn't like...and this pair of down in the leaves '32 Fords is a prime example of his affection for ol' Henrys.

Metz, who originally built both rodneys, started the fender free highboy a few years back, but eventually sold it to fellow Fordnatic Dan Mershon. The roadster's underpinnings consist of a Metz-massaged frame supported by a buggy sprung combination which includes an original Bell Auto dropped tube axle, front and rear Model "A" leaf springs, Bill's four-link split wishbones and ladder bars, and a Halibrand quick-change center section attached to a pair of '36 Ford axle housings. Under the "repop" bonnet lies a fully balanced and blueprinted 350 inch Chevy V8 force fed by a 6-71 Jimmy blower drawing through a set of 4-barrel fuel leaks. The black lacquer body-essentially a Wescott fiberglass replica painted by Jerry Pollack-has been fitted with such accoutrements as '41 Chevy tailights, 2-3/4 inch chopped windshield, and dark brown upholstery by Dan Dunleavy.

Metz's own keeper is the red 'n' rapid, full fendered rag-top-an all steel (rear fenders excepted) "gennie" based on a set of new/old stock frame rails which have been fitted with a 5-inch droped Super Bell axle, one of Bill's quad-link split wishbone setups, Super Bell's Mustang disc brake kit, and a 9-inch Ford rearend retained by both R & C's ladder bars and a stock leaf spring. Horsepower is supplied by 350 inches of reasonably reworked (like 12.5:1 TRW slugs, forged steel crank and rods, Chevy 327/350-horse hydraulic cam, Edelbrock intake and a 650 Holley carb) mouse motor, which in turn, is tied tied to a pair of Cyclone headers and a Turbo 400 tranny. As for visuals, Willie's wagon relies on such features as tan upholstery (also by Dan Dunleavy), Ford truck red paint, '39 "cc" taillights and '50 Merc steel wheels sporting both '50 Merc hubcaps and bueaty rings to achieve a '50's look and rod fancier would "fall" for.

From Street Rodder Collectors Issue No. 2, summer 1980, McMullen Publishing Co.

He's been in the business now for seven years, but twenty seven year old Bill Metz, owner of Bill's Rod & Custom in Springfield, Ohio will tell you his heart has been into rods and customs since the age of 10. At that time, young Bill was tinkering models and paging through hot rod magazines dreaming of the day when he'd have his own set of wheels. These dreams finally materialized after high school when enough enough greenbacks came together to afford a '35 Ford Tudor. In his own naive (teenage) way, Bill was investing in a career for the future. What was once just a hobby quickly evolved into a profession.

Bill earned a degree in Mechanical Engineering upon completing two years of trade school. During the summer of '74, he got started in business for himself, working out of his home garage, establishing a strong clientele. As volume increased, a move was made to a largercommercial facility in the heart of town, where productivity took quite a jump. His shop, as we know it today, is at the corner of W. Main Street and Lannert Ave, specializes in street rods and accessories, custom chassis fabrication, fiberglass parts and includes a custom machine shop. Bill has taken in hired help who know the old A's through 34's like second nature. Frames are assembled in their own special jigs using heli-arc. All parts (other than Super Bell axles and Deuce Factory frames) are manufaactured there on the spot. Frames are available from and to any stage of completion.

Anyone who knows Bill recognizes him as a guy with a casual unhurried manner. It seems there is no way to rush a guy who's having a good time at what he does! A couple of other guys who work with him in the shop are close friends sharing the same interest in rods. Steve West is the in-house sheet metal expert, handling body restorations and top chopping. The youngest member of the crew is Danny Kuntz who takes care of welding and keeps the sparks flying.

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